Regional Listings

Blackwater Falls Area

Blackwater Falls State Park is full of great waterfalls and trails. The lodge is pretty nice and I can highly recommend the morning and evening buffet. The food is really good. Down home and delicious.

Right next door to the lodge is the trail to Elakala Falls and Shays run creek which cascades down into the valley and the Blackwater River. There are four falls on Shay's Run. Elakala is easy to find and a really short walk from the top of the trail, but to get into the creek for photography purposes is a bit difficult and slippery. It's a must if you are in the area though. Getting to the other three falls is a bit more time consuming and can require some skills, so be careful.

Blackwater Falls itself has two viewing platforms. If you're in the park, you'll have no trouble finding them and the walks are easy. You can get information at the lodge.

Falls Run Falls (need photo)

Directions:The parking area at a trailhead known as Gentle Trail serves the upper observation platform for Blackwater Falls. If you head right from the parking area, you’ll see Blackwater Falls. Instead, head left, hike the road for a few hundred feet and listen for water. When you hear flowing water, you may see a creek. Cross the creek, and head downhill. From there, it’s only a short distance to the falls. It's a little steep, but a very short hike.

Follow the road past the lodge and you'll come to the trail head for the Lindy Point Overlook. Park here where the road turns to dirt. This is also be beginning of the Canaan loop road. I would not venture down this road without a 4WD and high clearance vehicle. There are parts where you will wonder what the heck you were thinking if you drive your car down here. This road comes out on SR 32 after about 19 miles with an easy return to the lodge or Davis.

Lindy Point Overlook is a short 1/4 mile trail with a viewing platform. You will be able to see up and down the Blackwater Canyon and it's a good place for sunrise and sunset shots. You will find a better vantage point if you get out on the rocks for a better view to the south with some rock formations in the forground, but be very careful here, you could get hurt.